West Coast Swing Puts Doral In Hole

CARLSBAD, Calif. — David Duval said Tuesday he has withdrawn from next week's Doral-Ryder Open.

Tiger Woods said he doesn't plan to play either.

Though the Doral-Ryder Open's leadership is trying to put on a brave face, the early news from this week's Andersen Consulting World Match Play Championship is ominous.

The booming prominence of the West Coast swing threatens to significantly weaken Doral's traditionally star-studded field of PGA Tour players when it is played March 4-7 in Miami.

So does lingering player dissatisfaction over Doral's renovation of the Blue Monster course before the 1997 event.

The Honda Classic at the TPC at Heron Bay, however, appears to be emerging as a winner in the South Florida competition for the PGA Tour's top players.

Doral attracted 18 of the top 30 players in the world rankings last year.

In a poll of the top 30 this week, only 10 said they are planning to play Doral next week. Two others said they're undecided.

Fifteen of the top 30 intend to play the Honda Classic.

Though it's unlikely Woods will play Honda, he left open the possibility on Tuesday.

"We'll see how I feel," he said.

Last year, Doral had five of the top six players in the world.

Davis Love III is the only player in the top six who says he is considering playing Doral this year.

Duval said he withdrew from Doral, in part, to rest. This week's event is his sixth of eight on the West Coast swing.

"I haven't been home since Jan. 4," he said. "I need to go home."

Woods is playing for the fifth week in a row.

Ernie Els, Mark O'Meara, Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson, Colin Montgomerie, Payne Stewart and Tom Watson joined Duval and Woods as stars who said they don't plan to play Doral.

Jack Nicklaus also is out because of hip replacement surgery.

There's a hedge to all of this, however. Players have until 30 minutes after the conclusion of play here Friday to commit to Doral. With 60 of the 64 players in the match-play field being eliminated Friday night, there's a possibility players will change their minds and make late commitments to Doral.

"This match-play format is so different, so new, I want to withhold comment until we see what happens this week," Doral tournament director Scott Montgomery said. "These players aren't used to being cut on a Wednesday. Three-quarters of the field will be eliminated by Thursday. They've never gone through this before."

Greg Norman, who slipped to No. 30 in the world rankings while recuperating from surgery, is Doral's headliner. No. 8 Vijay Singh, No. 9 Nick Price and No. 10 Justin Leonard are the highest-ranked players to say they will play Doral.